Improvement in wash-boards



B. KAUFMANN. Wash-Board.

No. 206,881. Patented Aug. 13, 1878.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BERTHA KAUFMANN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD OFHER RIGHT TO LEOPOLD J..SPEER, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN WASH-BOARDS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 206,881., dated August13, 1878; application filed December 8, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERTHA KAUFMANN, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Wash -Boards, which improvement is fully set forthin the following specification and the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure l is an isometrical view of an ordinary wash-board with myimprovement attached. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the middle ofFig. 1.

It is well known that in washing with the ordinary wash-board thebending forward is very hard on the breast, especially when theoperation is continued for several hours.

To give relief to the operator is the object of my invention.

The invention consists of a breast-rest on the upper end of the board,of concave form to receive the breast, and cushioned to admit of an easypressure. The cushioned part may be made separate, and attached to anyordinary wash-board by confining metallic strips to its ends and theedges of the wash-board at its upper end, by means of screws orotherwise; or this piece may be confined in any other convenient manner;or, in the construction of the wash-board, the extension and the boardmay be made in a single piece, if desired.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents an ordinary flutedwash-board, and B a cushion, having straps to a projected downward fromits lower edge for the' confinement of the cushion to the wash-board,the tacks b or screws passing through perforations in the straps andinto the stiles o c, for confining the lower ends of the straps. Theupper ends of the straps are confined to the base-strip d of the cushionin the same manner. The filling e of the cushion is confined in itsplace on the base-strip by means of the cover f, which is secured at itslower edges by means of the tacks b.

Instead of confining the cushion permanently in its place, asrepresented, it may, if desired, be made detachable by having themetallic straps to a, or wooden strips which may be used instead to fitvertical grooves of dovetail or other form, or in any other convenientmanner.

In order to adapt my invention to ordinary wash-boards already made, theattachment of separate cushions is very easily effected, as may bereadily seen by the above description, so as to make them detachable;but in the construction of new boards the stiles c a may extend abovethe upper end of the wash-board far enough to receive the cushionbetween them, and the edges of the cover f be confined to them and theupper part of the board; and in putting the cushion on an ordinary boardthe strips of wood may be fastened permanently to the stiles c c, withtheir upper 'ends projecting far enough above the upper end of the boardfor the reception of the cushion, when it is not desirable to have thecushion detachable.

I claim as my invention- The cushion B, having straps or strips to a onits ends, for connecting it with an ordinary Wash-board, substantiallyas set forth.

BERTHA KAUFMANN.

Witnesses:

STEPHEN USTICK, S. 'W. MILLETT.

